Tuesday, April 5, 2011

What a beautiful sunrise we had this morning. The weather is looking like we will have blue skies and I understand that the temps will reach into the upper 50s today.

Even though the weather is going to make it a wonderful day, last night was a little different. Our daughter Abby who is 5 started calling for her daddy and mommy to come to her room at around 3 a.m. Abby had a nightmare and she wanted to sleep with us. After arriving at her bedside, I tried to convince her that I would sleep in her bunk along side her, but she wanted to be with both her daddy and mommy. Usually when I do sleep with Abby, I lay on the foot of her bed which in turn gives me more movement. Abby has a tendency to move around a lot which makes for a disjointed night. After a lengthy discussion with her, I thought I could convince her that for me to stay in her bed was a good thing. I guess it was not to be though.

How much wood could a woodchuck chuck. . .

When all three of us were settled in our queen bed I started to drift off and just at that time I felt claws being extended into my mid section. Our cat woke up with all the activity and found that she was hungry (surprise, surprise.) Just after being awakened again by our kitty, I got a quick shove in the back of my neck with a foot, and another foot in the middle of my back just after the first push. I turned over and saw Abby sound asleep, lying across both our pillows with her head next to her mother’s. Anne was lying on the edge of the bed scooted down to accommodate Abby’s sprawled out body across our pillows. For myself, I was just about ready to fall off the other side of the bed, (especially after Abby’s last push with her legs and feet.) Then came Toby’s wake up call, which encouraged me to seek other alternatives. The cat telling me she was hungry was the final straw; at that point I retreated to the upstairs recliner.

Upon getting into the easy chair, I covered up with the afghan that Anne had made and I started to fall asleep once again. In a few minutes though, just before falling asleep, I again received further wakeup calls from Toby. I made the command decision at that point to feed her and then I resigned myself into staying up, and hence, the beautiful sunrise that I enjoyed so very much.

Looking for fairies and leprochauns

Before going to bed last night, I made the rounds in securing the house. On one stop through the kitchen, I grabbed some old hamburger buns that had reached the end of their life span and I decided to toss them out the window towards the meadow. At first light, I opened the curtains and I saw a crow staring at me from our silver maple just 20 feet from our window. The lookout had spotted me and began to warn its compatriot that an intruder had arrived and with that, they both retreated to the edge of the woods. I stood watching this whole scenario take place and I was curious when I saw that they had decided to perch on a sumac branch and begin a stare down with me. They eventually won and I noticed later that both of them were once again enjoying their breakfast of hamburger buns by the silver maple.

A couple of years ago we decided to buy a flourmill. Anne did extensive research on the Internet and found a place in Louisiana that sold German made flourmills; the mill itself was called Jupiter. It could be hand cranked or use electricity and the mill was constructed of stainless steel for durability. Earlier, Anne had found a farmer who raises all natural grown wheat, barley, oats and other small grains just across the river in Wisconsin. We stocked up on several different small grains that are filled in fifty-pound bags and kept in our lower storage room. Our gentleman farmer uses no herbicides or insecticides. It has been such a treat and savings to have homemade bread and buns.

Bluff overlooking the Mississippi

Anne, I feel could have been born a hundred years ago and fared very well. Not only is she a wonderful wife, mother and teacher, she is the glue that holds our family together. She has found two growers of natural grown produce and we have stocked our freezers with pasture fed beef and range chickens. The kids love visiting the farm with the animals, especially the chickens. Seeing a chicken house with the nests and the revelation of how baby chicks are born and raised was a wonderful experience and adventure for them. The people who chose to leave their modern day existence behind, and be a part of something closer to mother nature, have found that growing the bounty of the land brings them a completeness that somehow our modern day world with all its conveniences have lost. I am learning that more people are walking away from technology and are returning to the country trying to escape the stress of modern day living. Perhaps this is the direction that God is slowly leading us as a family, we will just have to continue with prayers and watch for God’s leading.

Well, this is our life today, I hope you enjoyed being a part of it. Have a wonderful day! God bless you! Augie